


Stronger Than Ever

by punkrock



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dads of Marmora AU, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, end game shallureith, implied kolivantok, they/them pronouns for Kolivan and Antok
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 08:30:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11414100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punkrock/pseuds/punkrock
Summary: Keith was raised by the Blade of Marmora. When his first solo mission for the Blade goes horribly wrong, he ends up as a prisoner on Central Command. He encounters the first human he's ever met, and an Altean prisoner who is supposedly the last of her species. The three unlikely allies try to find a way out of captivity, and they find love in the process.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a conversation on the Shallureith discord. Shout out to [ blacklionshiro ](https://blacklionshiro.tumblr.com/) for coming up with the idea! Also, huge thank yous to Sam for beta reading!
> 
> This fic also has a [ playlist ](https://open.spotify.com/user/cris244/playlist/2J9o7pSNhZiqpoolvfEsB2). It's not complete yet, but enjoy!
> 
> Please mind the tags! This fic is going to be pretty dark, and it gets a lot worse before it gets better.

Keith stood with his hands clasped behind his back as he listened to Kolivan lay out the details of his first solo mission with the Blade of Marmora. He had practiced for years to make his expression emotionless, but his violet eyes sparkled with excitement as the leader outlined Keith’s entry route on the holographic map of Central Command. 

“Timing is extremely important,” Kolivan said, zooming in on a spot on the exterior of the massive ship. “The maintenance drones only leave through these doors twice a cycle, and the doors will only stay open for one hundred ticks. During that time you have to land the pod and break into the vents. Thace will disable the cameras in that area for you, but you have to eliminate any witnesses.”

Keith nodded, and Kolivan continued speaking. “Once you’re in the vents, make contact with Thace through the earpiece we gave you. He will guide you to the target, but if something goes wrong and he cannot communicate with you, make sure you have the route memorized.” Kolivan tapped the screen and a red line appeared over the maze of vents creating a path from the maintenance entrance to one of the ship’s many computer terminals.

“And once I’m there, I connect the device you gave me to their servers and download as much data as I can. Then I escape the way I came. Did I get that right?” Keith asked, interrupting Kolivan’s lecture. He just wanted to just go already. Kolivan had been quizzing him on the details of this mission for weeks, but he knew it was the Kolivan’s way of showing that they cared. 

Kolivan would have scolded any other subordinate for being being so flippant, but Keith had always been a special case. They rolled their eyes and said, “That’s correct. Are you prepared to leave in half an hour?” 

“Yes, Leader.”

Kolivan clasped Keith’s shoulder in a rare display of affection. “Knowledge or death, Keith. You’re dismissed.”

Keith saluted at Kolivan before heading down to the hangars. The small pod he was flying to Central Command had been packed with supplies this morning, so he had nothing to do except wait. Antok was waiting for Keith at the hangar. “Leaving so soon?” they asked, looking down at Keith. 

Keith had to crane his neck to look up at Antok’s masked face. “Not until 1800,” he replied.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Antok asked.

“I’ve been a member for five years. It’s about time I pull my weight around here, right?”

“You’re still so small…”

“Most Galra aren’t nine feet tall, Antok.”

“Perhaps,” Antok said, and Keith could have sworn Antok was smiling beneath their mask. They carefully ruffled Keith’s hair with a massive hand, which made Keith scowl. “Make us proud. Give Thace our regards, won’t you?”

“Will do,” Keith said. It had been almost ten years since he’s seen Thace in person, and even though his trip to Central Command would be brief, he was looking forward to seeing his uncle again. 

Keith said his goodbyes to a few of the younger Blades until it was time to leave. As Keith boarded the pod, Kolivan arrived to see him off and stood next to Antok. Keith waved at the pair as he started the engines and took off into open space. 

Keith spent most of the flight running through the plan over and over in his mind, going over every little detail that could go wrong and trying to come up with solutions, but he was only making himself more anxious by fixating on the “what-ifs”. He forced himself to stop thinking about the future and enjoy the present. He kept himself entertained by looking for familiar constellations in the blur of stars as he sped past. 

After almost a week of constant flying, Keith arrived at Central Command right on schedule. He watched as a swarm of drones left the maintenance hatches in the side of the ship to clean and repair the hull. Keith sped towards the large metal doors as they were closing and slammed on the brakes as soon as he was inside. The pod hit a wall as it slid to a stop, and Keith let out a loud curse. He grabbed his knife, activated his mask, and climbed through the escape hatch on the roof of the pod. 

The air vent was at least twenty feet above Keith’s head. He activated the magnets on his gloves and boots and scaled the wall. When he reached the vent, he unscrewed the cover with a tool from his belt and pulled the cover into the vent after him. 

Keith pressed a button on his earpiece and his stomach dropped when for a moment there was only static. He continued to crawl forward over the cold metal, unable to see more than a few feet in front of him.

Thace’s voice came through the headset. “Keith, can you hear me?” 

A relieved smile spread across Keith’s face. “Loud and clear.”

Keith crawled through the air vents, following Thace’s verbal directions. “You're going to drop down here. There may be sentries, so have your blade ready.”

“Yes, sir,” Keith whispered. He unscrewed the cover in the floor in front of him and took a deep breath to center himself before he dropped down to the ground. Keith landed on his feet and took off at a sprint. Luckily the hallway was clear, but he listened for rhythmic footsteps and looked over his shoulder periodically anyway. The silence— aside from his own footsteps and quick breaths— was unnerving. This felt too easy.

“You're doing great. Input the passcode into the door,” Thace said, giving Keith a string of numbers that he entered into the glowing keypad. The door slid open, and Keith slipped inside the dark room filled with massive computer equipment and lit by the soft glow of screens and buttons.

“See the server on the left? You're going to plug the drive into that one. The computer connected to it will ask you for some codes, so be ready to enter them.”

Keith did as Thace instructed, but as he entered the codes, the screen flashed red and an alarm started to blare. “Thace, what's happening?!” Keith asked, unable to hide the panic creeping into his voice. He scrambled for the exit and found that the keypad was no longer responding. “Thace?”

Through the earpiece, Keith heard a bang as guards kicked down Thace’s door. “In the name of the Emperor, you're under arrest!” Keith heard the command through the earpiece, and on the other side of the door he was standing in front of. There was a loud crackling sound in Keith’s ear, then the line went silent. Keith dropped into a fighting stance and let his dagger shift into its sword form. He wouldn't go down without a fight.

There were staccato footsteps outside, then the door hissed open and soldier drones poured into the room with Keith. Keith charged forward and cut two of the robots in half with a quick swipe. He dodged the spray of sparks and ducked under another robot’s arm as it tried to hit him in the face with the stock of its rifle. Keith took out five more drones in quick succession, but he was outnumbered, and they were backing him into a corner. 

Keith continued to fight despite the drone’s demands that he drop his weapon and put his hands up. The drones had been using non-lethal force, but as Keith continued to resist they took aim with their blasters. One of the lasers hit Keith in the thigh, and he fell to one knee with a cry of pain. 

The drones were on him in an instant, tackling him to the ground and pinning his arms behind his back. Keith snarled and struggled against their grip as his blade was ripped from his hand. One of the sentries pressed a gun against his temple, and Keith screwed his eyes shut.

“Haggar wants this one alive,” a non-robotic voice said from the doorway. There were heavy footsteps as a Galra commander wearing a bright red uniform stepped over the fallen drones to assess the traitor. “Stand them up.”

The drones hauled Keith to his feet, and it took four of them to keep him contained. Keith bit back a yell as his injured leg was forced to support his weight. He looked up at the commander’s face as the Galra reached down to rip the mask off Keith. The clawed purple hand was larger than Keith’s head. 

“What do we have here?” the commander asked, “Another human?” His single yellow eye widening in surprise as he held Keith’s chin in two fingers and looked at his face. His artificial eye was a red glowing disk that unnerved Keith to look at. 

Keith had to bite his tongue to keep himself from asking what the hell the commander meant by _another_ human. He’d never met his human parent, or any humans beside. 

“Take the rebel scum to the Druids,” the commander ordered. He turned his back on Keith and walked to the exit. 

The drones dragged Keith to the prison block of the ship. He couldn’t put weight on his left leg and blood dripped onto the floor, leaving a trail on the metal floors. Keith tried to keep track of the twists and turns he was taken down, but he was too dizzy to remember Kolivan’s map. 

Haggar had a reputation that transcended galaxies, and Keith’s heart sank with every rhythmic step of the drones. He told himself that his shaking hands were because of the blood loss, and not because he was afraid. He could handle torture. He had been trained for this situation. He would never betray the Blade. Keith took a deep breath as the doors to one of the interrogation chambers opened. 

_Knowledge or death_. Keith repeated the mantra to himself as he was strapped to a cold metal table. A woman asked Keith a question, but he didn’t pay attention to the words her raspy voice was saying, he didn’t intend to say a word to these people. Keith shut his eyes as a harsh red light clicked on above his head.

Keith heard the hum of electricity for a split second before the table underneath him crackled to life. He threw his head back and clenched his jaw shut. He bit down on the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood. He wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of hearing him scream, not yet. The pain forced Keith’s eyes open, and he looked up into Haggar’s narrowed yellow eyes. 

“Who are you? Who do you work for?” Haggar demanded. Keith shook his head, and the table shocked him again. 

Keith didn’t know how long the interrogation lasted, it felt like days. His voice was hoarse from screaming, but he hadn’t said a word in response to any of Haggar’s questions. His head lolled to the side as he gasped for breath, his chest heaving. Kolivan would be proud of him, and the thought made him smile. 

Haggar shook her head; Keith’s delirious grin was a sign that she was not going to make any progress with the prisoner at this point. She waved one of the other Druids over. “See if you can get any information from his microchip, then treat his injuries. This one is going to take some work.”

“Yes, Arch-Druid,” the masked druid replied. They waved a device over Keith’s neck. “This one does not appear to have a chip.”

“Then _give_ him one. I have more important matters to attend to,” Haggar snapped before she left the room. 

Keith flinched away from the Druid as they came back to the table holding a different device that resembled a gun, but he couldn’t move more than a few inches because of the restraints. The Druid forced Keith’s head to the side and held the device to the back of Keith’s neck. “Hold still,” they hissed when Keith squirmed. The device beeped as the Druid pulled the trigger back. The back of Keith’s neck seared with pain, and Keith finally passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of hurt and a little comfort in this one. Keith's Galra dads love him so much.

When Keith woke up in the interrogation room, he had no idea where he was at first. The ache that seeped into his bones and the metallic taste of blood in his mouth brought back the memories of his mission going sideways. “Quiznak,” Keith cursed.

“So you _can_ speak,” Haggar said as she materialized in front of Keith, making him jump.

Keith turned his head and bit his lip. His hands clenched into fists, and he was definitely only shaking because it was cold in here.

“Are you going to cooperate today?” Haggar asked. 

“Probably not,” Keith said hoarsely. He figured there was no harm in being sarcastic now that he had already slipped up and said something out loud in front of her. 

“We know you were working with Commander Thace. What is your relationship to him? Who do you work for?” 

“Where is Thace?” Keith asked, ignoring Haggar’s questions. He had assumed the worst when he heard Thace being arrested, but his joy over the prospect that Thace could be alive was dampened by the idea that his uncle was probably in a similar room being tortured right now. 

“Do you wish to see him?”

 

“Yes,” Keith answered without hesitation. 

Haggar considered Keith’s request for a moment. “If you insist,” she replied with a grin before she disappeared. Keith had the feeling he was going to regret his answer immensely.

Druids wheeled Thace into the room, and Keith’s stomach dropped when he realized that Thace was strapped to the same device they had him hooked up to. The fur on one side of Thace’s head was matted with blood, and one of his eyes was swollen shut. His expression went from neutral to anguished when he saw Keith. 

Thace regained his composure in an instant, but Haggar raised an eyebrow at Thace. “Are you sure you don’t know this boy personally, _Commander_?” she sneered, making the title sound like a curse. 

“Positive,” Thace muttered, looking anywhere but at Keith. 

Druids pressed buttons on the tables and they shifted to vertical positions. It forced the two Blades to look at each other. “Start talking,” Haggar said as her hand glowed with dark purple energy. 

Keith and Thace locked eyes, and Thace blinked slowly at Keith to reassure him. Neither of them said a word. 

Thace braced himself as Haggar outstretched her glowing hand towards him, but she spun around and flung the energy at Keith. Keith’s screams made Thace’s fur stand on end. He wanted to tear the Arch-Druid apart as he watched the man that was practically his son writhing in pain. “Stop!” Thace called out desperately after only a few seconds. 

Haggar turned her attention back to Thace. Keith slumped against the restraints, his head down. Thace couldn’t tell if Keith was breathing or not. “I hired him to steal the data. This is my fault, I put him up to this,” Thace said quickly. “He’s innocent.”

“You work in communications, Thace. The information the traitor was trying to steal was nothing that you didn’t already have access to. Who were you giving the information to?”

“I was going to sell it to the highest bidder. The Empire has plenty of enemies,” Thace said evenly.

“The two of you had the same knife made out of an extremely rare material. I don’t think you’re telling me the truth... What is this rebel group you work for?” 

“It’s a coincidence! There is no rebel group.”

“Liar!” Haggar yelled. She snapped her fingers at one of her assistants, and the table beneath Keith crackled with electricity. She turned around and watched Thace’s reaction this time. Thace turned his head and shut his eyes. Haggar strode forward to grab Thace’s chin and force him to look straight ahead. “If you don’t know him… Why does this bother you so much?”

“He’s young,” Thace growled. “And he doesn’t deserve this. The blame is mine, Haggar.”

“Thace, stop talking,” Keith gasped. “Don’t… Don’t let her get under your skin. It’s okay… I’m okay.” Keith’s eyelids fluttered as he struggled to remain conscious.

“Be quiet,” Thace snapped. 

“Tell me who else is part of your group,” Haggar ordered. 

“No,” Thace said. Keith was his family, but so were the rest of the Blades. Their mission was more important than any one person. Thace watched one of the druids fiddling with the controls for the torture device, but nothing could have prepared him for the way that Keith cried out. They must have amped up the intensity. Keith's body jerked violently for a few seconds before he went limp. 

Tears ran down Thace’s cheeks. “You're killing him,” he said in a broken whisper.

“Tell me what I want to know, and his pain will stop,” Haggar shot back. “You have control over this situation.”

Thace sighed and looked at his nephew’s bruised, tear-streaked face. He had wiped Keith’s tears away countless times, and he would give anything to be able to comfort him now.

“We’re called the Blade of Marmora. We have bases throughout the empire and beyond it. We have spies everywhere. I do not know the real names of anyone, nor do I know all of the hideout locations. No one does,” Thace said. Forgive me, Kolivan, he thought as more tears dripped into the purple fur on his cheeks.

“What bases _do_ you know the locations of?” Haggar pressed.

“I only know one,” Thace lied, thinking of one of the most remote outposts. It would probably be abandoned, or so he hoped as he rattled off the coordinates to the base in the Thaldycon system.

Keith blearily opened his eyes and woke up to Thace giving the Druids vital information by the lungful. “Thace, stop! What are you doing?!” He cried.

“I'm saving your life!” Thace yelled back. 

“What can you tell me about the other members? Do you have any names?”

“My sister. She was a member, and a high ranking one at that. She died twenty-one years ago.”

“That's not helpful,” Haggar sniffed.

Thace shrugged and said, “I've been a spy here for a long time. Didn't give me a chance to meet new recruits.”

Haggar opened her mouth to ask another question when the door to the interrogation chamber burst open. “Commander Sendak,” she said, nodding to the Galra in greeting. 

“Sorry to interrupt, but the Emperor wants to speak to the traitor personally,” Sendak said. He glared at Thace as he spoke.

“An honor,” Thace quipped. 

“You should be on your best behavior, Thace… Your friends life is still in your hands,” Haggar hissed. 

“Will you be coming with us, Haggar?” Sendak asked.

“My services might be needed. He was being talkative before you got here,” Haggar replied, obviously irritated at being disturbed. 

One of Haggar’s assistants unbuckled Thace from the table. Thace didn't try to run or fight back as they cuffed his hands in front of him. The two Druids walked out the room ahead of Thace. He spared one last glance at Keith before Sendak shoved him out the door.

Keith let the tears fall as soon as the door shut. He was terrified for Thace, himself, and their organization. Thace’s betrayal made no sense to him. His life wasn't worth the lives of so many others. Keith knew the risks when he became a Blade, and he knew that their mission was more important than anything.   
Keith waited for them to bring Thace back. Thace never returned.

Keith thought that the interrogations would stop since Thace gave them information, but the tidbits his uncle gave Haggar only seemed to pique her curiosity. Keith didn't even know the answers to most of the questions the witch was asking him. He was the Blade’s youngest member, and Thace hadn't been lying about the fact that no one person knew all of the organization’s intelligence– save Kolivan, perhaps. 

Haggar wouldn't tell Keith what Zarkon had decided to do with Thace. Answers about his uncle were the carrots Haggar offered him in exchange for the lives of the rest of his family. Keith refused the reward, so she gave him the stick.

Keith tried to quantify the passage of time with the number of meals he received, the number of bathroom breaks he got, and the naps he took lying on the cold metal table. However, he found that the reprieves he got were too sporadic, and that the most reliable way to tell time was by counting his sessions with Haggar. 

The third session after they took Thace away, Keith was at his limits. His muscles spasmed even when the Druids weren’t electrocuting him. His body was covered in burns. The pain made it difficult to breathe. Keith was too weak to lift his head, and he was half-conscious at best for most of the session. He couldn't understand what Haggar was saying to him anymore, everything sounded distant and muffled, like he was underwater. He closed his eyes and pictured the view of the galaxy outside his window back home. As everything faded to black, he felt at peace.

The cryopod opened with a hiss and Keith stumbled out of the cold fog into the arms of a Galra in a red and black lab coat. Keith blinked up at the person holding him, and his jaw dropped when he recognized the familiar white markings and hair. Ulaz gave Keith a sharp look, and Keith closed his mouth and forced his expression to be neutral. 

“Take the galra mutt to his cell,” Haggar said dismissively. She was working on another patient lying on an operating table. Keith averted his eyes as Ulaz led him past the poor alien, but Keith caught a glimpse of an extremely humanoid face. It was the closest resemblance to his own body that Keith had ever seen, and it shook him to his core. 

Keith didn't dare try to talk to Ulaz as he guided Keith from the medical bay to the quarantine chambers. Ulaz opened the door to one of the cells by slapping his hand to the keypad, and he ushered Keith inside gently. 

Once they were behind closed doors, Ulaz bent down to Keith’s level and pressed his forehead to Keith’s in an affectionate headbutt. Keith threw his arms around Ulaz’s neck and rubbed their noses together. Ulaz nuzzled Keith with a desperation that bordered on aggression. It's been a decade since he's seen his child, and his child was in grave danger. 

The two of them sank to the ground, and Ulaz pulled Keith onto his lap and held him tightly. Keith could hear Ulaz’s heart beating and the deep, comforting rumble of his purr. It reminded him of his childhood when he slept nestled between Ulaz and Thace after bad dreams. 

Ulaz ran his fingers through Keith’s long black hair to work out the tangles. Keith leaned into the touch, purring happily. “I am proud of you, Keith,” Ulaz murmured. “It's going to be okay.”

Keith sighed and rested his head on his parent’s shoulder. “Any news on Thace?” Keith asked hesitantly. 

Ulaz’s hands stopped moving in Keith’s hair for a moment. “No. I am afraid to try and check the records,” Ulaz took a shaky breath. “I do not know why your mission went wrong… I'm so sorry, dear one.”

“Alarms went off when I used Thace’s pass codes. Seems like someone suspected him.”

“I do not know who ratted him out, or what Thace did that tipped them off. I want to help you, but I could be under scrutiny too,” Ulaz said. He glanced nervously at the door. “I cannot stay much longer.”

“It's okay,” Keith said shakily. He bit his lip, then blurted out the thought that's been plaguing him since he saw Thace’s partner. “If you can't bust me out of here… There’s another way you can save me.”

Ulaz frowned at Keith. “You're not asking what I think you're asking,” he said, his tone clipped.

“Please… Just think about it, Ulaz,” Keith pleaded, nuzzling against the crook of Ulaz’s neck. “I don't want to die, but I don't see another way out of this.”

“We didn't raise a coward,” Ulaz said stiffly. 

Keith pulled away to look up at his parent. “Thace is a coward! He gave them information because he couldn't watch me get hurt!” Keith hissed, his anger at his uncle boiling over. 

Ulaz looked as if Keith had punched him in the gut. “He what?! What did he say?” 

Keith told Ulaz everything he could remember. As Keith spoke, Ulaz got increasingly agitated. If Thace were here, Ulaz would have kicked his ass.

“Fuck, this is even worse than I thought,” Ulaz said, tugging at his own hair. “I need to contact Kolivan immediately.”

Keith reluctantly climbed off of Ulaz. Ulaz pressed their foreheads together one last time and slipped something into Keith’s hand as they embraced. “Good luck,” Keith said.

Ulaz forced a smile for Keith. “You too.”

Keith opened his hand after Ulaz locked the door behind him and found a small white pill. He wasn't sure what it would do, but he trusted Ulaz implicitly. Keith swallowed the pill dry, then curled up on the small cot built into the wall. The medicine gradually numbed Keith’s pain and made it difficult for him to keep his eyes open. He fell asleep worrying about his adoptive parents.

Ulaz hurried to his quarters as fast as he could without outright running. He locked the door to his bedroom behind him and sat down at his small personal computer. 

He tapped an icon that looked like the standard issue word processor, but instead it pulled up a black screen that Ulaz started rapidly giving command prompts. 

He wasn't using the typical channels he would normally go through to send a message to the Blades, this was too urgent. Instead, he was sending a code red to Kolivan’s direct line. He sighed and dragged a hand through his hair as he waited for the leader to respond.

A few minutes passed before an additional window popped up on Ulaz’s screen, revealing a very frazzled rebellion leader. Kolivan’s white hair was soaking wet and out of its normal tight braid, and Ulaz thought he could see soap bubbles on their ears. He must have caught Kolivan in the shower. 

“Ulaz? What is it?” Kolivan asked. There was a hint of anxiety in their tone, but they kept their expression neutral. 

“Thace and Keith were captured,” Ulaz said, his voice breaking.

Kolivan closed their eyes and gritted their teeth. It took them a moment to regain composure. “I am sorry to hear that.” Their eyes met Ulaz’s, searching for answers. “What happened?”

“Someone suspected Thace. His codes triggered the alarms—” 

“What has Thace been doing recently? Who else was he working with?” Kolivan interrupted, leaning forward in their chair.

“I don't know! We haven't spoken in months,” Ulaz sighed. “That wasn't the bad news.”

Kolivan rubbed their temples with their index fingers. “Go on.”

“Thace… He talked. Keith said he gave the Druids the coordinates to the Thaldycon base.”

Kolivan’s ears flattened against their head, and they started furiously tapping at their screen. “What else did he tell them?”

“The name of our organization. That was all Haggar got out of him before he was taken to Zarkon,” Ulaz said quietly.

“I didn't think Thace would betray us,” Kolivan said, voice dangerously low. 

“Haggar was going to kill Keith,” Ulaz said to answer Kolivan’s unspoken _why_. “She was torturing him in front of Thace.”

“That's not an excuse, and you know it,” Kolivan snapped. “How do you even know all this?!”

“I've had contact with Keith.”

“That has to cease, immediately. You get caught, and they will use him as leverage like they did to Thace. Don't tell me you could resist, Ulaz, because we both know that's bullshit.”

“You can't ask me to abandon him!” Ulaz cried. 

“I'm not asking,” Kolivan replied. “Transfer off base if you can't resist the urge. The mission comes first. Keith knew the risks when he joined us.”

Ulaz looked away from Kolivan, both hands tightened into fists on the desk in front of him. “I thought you would help me,” he whispered.

Kolivan’s expression softened by a fraction. “It is too risky to make any moves right now. We have to find out how they knew Thace was a traitor.”

“I know.” Ulaz looked back at the leader. “Can you find out what happened to Thace?” He asked. 

“We will look into it,” Kolivan said, their tone clipped. 

Antok padded across the room they shared with Kolivan and leaned into the frame. They were also dripping with water and had a towel obscuring their face. “We are also sorry about your family,” Antok added, nudging Kolivan with an elbow. 

Kolivan sighed. “I truly am. Knowledge or death, Ulaz.”

Ulaz repeated the mantra back, then the chat window disappeared. Ulaz groaned and buried his face in his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will get Shiro in here :)

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my [ Tumblr ](https://punkshiro.tumblr.com/). Thanks for reading! Comments would be super appreciated.


End file.
